There is no doubt that cloud computing has become a disruptive technology with impacts felt throughout almost every single industry. Cloud requires a change of culture and mindset. It needs to be a collaborative effort with shared responsibilities. At first, the IT team was expected to protect the cloud and all of its resources, yet with experience we have learned that regardless of how secure your IT environment, controlling unauthorized users is a shared responsibility. Just like protecting physical access entry points from aunthorized members, how many times how we’ve been warned about letting others tail-gate behind you through secure gateways or entrances. Same goes for cloud services, the control of access is a common effort that we must tackle together. With this new mindset shift we can take advantages of the innovative aspects of cloud platforms. Organizations do not bear the burden of physically securing data centers since most cloud providers enable a shared responsibility model where it declares the distribution of responsibility between the cloud provider and the client. In the case with AWS, they are responsible for data centers, hardware devices, and global infrastructure. In case of managed services, it is also responsible for underlaying technology platform and compute resources. Basically, AWS is responsible for the security of the cloud. On the other hand, the client is responsible for securing all provisioned services in terms of password protection, data encryption, identity provider integration, server-side encryption, configuration of provisioned resources, firewall setup, overall application security, and networking traffic protection. We can say that client is responsible for the security within the cloud.

We strongly recommend prioritizing the protection of network integrity as a key governance aspect. AWS provides a variety of security services dedicated for protecting networks. AWS Foundations consist of VPC configuration with defined IPs range. Every administrative access should connect to the cloud via a site-to-site VPN that provides secure gateways for communication. Every open port represents a potential threat that an experienced attacker could exploit. Eliminate vulnerabilities through security configurations.

More often firms decide to work with hybrid cloud implementations that require a mix of on-premises and cloud-based resources. The hybrid mix provides big advantages for organizations, yet creates a new set of security risks that must be mitigated. Not only must the connection between resources be secure and scalable, it should use dedicated private networks which do not travel over public internet channels. A common solution used to securely exchange information between locations is to use the AWS Direct Connect solution, which easily establishes secure dedicated networks with the world’s most security mechanisms built-in and preconfigured. International institutions and retailers use AWS Direct Connect, to establish connectivity between private and public networks. Additionally, the service provides benefits for reducing costs, increasing bandwidth throughput, and provide a more consistent network experience.

Experienced DFX5’s employees will configure multiple secure connections between your on-premise infrastructure and AWS cloud-based resources. Our deliverables surpass the most stringent of industry-requirement and apply globally accepted best practices and AWS recommendations.